Lightning Strike
by a-land-of-myth
Summary: Anne is engaged to be married, but she has never felt so alone. Dealing with an infuriating fiancé and a kind-hearted firefighter on the same night pushes her to finally choose what's best for herself. Modern AU.


The cold wind blew around Anne, and she shivered as she was sent through to Louis's voicemail for the fifth time. Leaving another message, she turned to face her house; her hair whipping around her face and the flickering of flames reflected in her eyes. She was dressed in nothing but her nightgown, standing out in the path of a looming storm at two in the morning, and of course her fiancé was yet _again_ unable to be contacted. An early bolt of lightning had struck a tree at her home and started a small fire. Knowing Louis, he wouldn't be finding out until he came home sometime later in the morning.

The fire crew had the fire under control, although the strong winds had slightly worsened the situation. Anne hoped they would let her go back inside soon, because she was _freezing_. One of the firefighters noticed as she wrapped her arms more tightly around her upper torso. Making sure the others had the fire under control, he headed over to the truck, rifling around in the back until he found the heavy firefighter's coat he was looking for. He brought it over to the shivering young woman and helped her put it on.

"Thank you," said Anne.

"What's your name, ma'am?"

"It's definitely not ma'am." She smiled. "It's Anne."

"Aramis," he responded. He took his helmet off, glad to be relieved of its weight. "You shouldn't be waiting out here in the cold, Anne. Aren't there any neighbours around here that you can stay with for now?"

"There's no need. You'll probably have the fire out by the time I make it to the end of the driveway." Because driveway could hardly be the appropriate term – rather, a few hundred metres of smoothed gravel that led away from the huge estate.

"The coast may not be clear even then," warned Aramis.

"I should stay anyway. I ought to be here to tell my fiancé what happened if he comes home."

If Aramis detected the trace of bitterness in her voice, he didn't let on. "You're engaged?"

"Yes." Anne smiled a little at the disappointment in Aramis's face, a bittersweet sort of smile. She was with Louis and she loved him, but if she wasn't…Aramis seemed like a nice man, and she found him very attractive, with his tousled brown hair and sparkling eyes to match.

"Where is he?"

Anne's smile faded. "He's the mayor. He often stays in the city overnight because he has so much work to do and by the time he's done it's not worth coming all the way home."

Aramis frowned. "Bullshit. Is that what he says? If I were him, I'd abandon my work by five o'clock every day to come home to you."

Anne laughed lightly. "You're very sweet."

"Just telling it how it is," said Aramis. "I don't agree with his actions."

Anne looked away. "Excuse me for a moment, I'm going to try him again," she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. Aramis nodded, heading back to help with the fire. Anne tapped Louis' name and held the phone to her ear, waiting.

On the twelfth ring, he answered. "Anne? What is it?"

"I've been trying to call you for an hour!"

"I was sleeping," he said shortly. "It's what people do in the middle of the night."

Anne sighed, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "You're right, I'm sorry. Louis, some lightning struck a tree just outside the house. It caught on fire."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I was still awake so I noticed right away. The fire crew is here right now. They're handling it."

"That's good. Is there any damage to the house?"

"The fire spread a little to the west side of the house, but it's already been extinguished. The damage isn't too bad."

"I must remember to reward the fire department for their hard work," mused Louis. "Goodnight, Anne. I'll be home in the morning."

Anne's throat constricted. "You're not going to come home?"

Louis chuckled. "Anne, it's – what time is it? Two thirty in the morning. Not very appropriate or safe for driving."

"I don't want to be alone tonight after my house caught on fire!"

"Anne, be reasonable," Louis said in a soothing tone. "You said the damage wasn't very bad. I'm sure you'll be fine."

Anne blinked back the tears coming to her eyes. "I thought that an emergency would get you home, but no, not even that?"

"Anne, I'm not avoiding you if that's what you're trying to-"

Anne snapped. "Save it! I'll let you get back to that woman. She's probably lying next to you right now, isn't she?"

"What _are_ you talking about? There's no-"

"Milady! That's her name, isn't it?" Louis was silent. "I know about her, Louis! I thought maybe you just needed space, that you just needed to fool around a little before settling down, but now I see how _unimportant_ I am. You haven't truly loved me for a long time. Maybe you never did. Have a nice night, Louis. I hope she's worth it."

Anne hung up, clenching her phone in her hand. She blinked rapidly to clear her tears, taking two shuddering breaths. Aramis jogged over, worry etched onto his face. He hadn't been able to hear what she'd said to her fiancé, but she was visibly distressed.

"Anne? Is everything all right?"

"Fine, Aramis, thank you," she said quietly.

"Do you need to talk?"

Anne shook her head, not out of refusal, but because she didn't even know where to start. Maybe she should tell Aramis that she couldn't remember the last time her fiancé had told her he loved her without her saying it first? Or that they barely spoke anymore because he wasn't even home half the time? That she was now beginning to see that he would never have asked her to marry him if not for the pressure from both of their families, who were old friends? That she had found out a long time ago he was spending more time in another bed with another woman than with her? Somehow, all of these things came tumbling out, and she found herself enveloped in a hug.

"I'm sorry," she said through fresh tears. "Here I am, laying all of my troubles onto someone I barely know. I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's no bother at all," said Aramis soothingly. "It's good for you to get these feelings out. I imagine you don't often open up."

Anne pulled away, rubbing under her eyes. "You're right, I don't. I don't have anyone to open up to. Your partner's supposed to be your best friend, the person you trust with everything, but as you can see…"

"How long have you been together? If you don't mind my asking?"

"Too long," murmured Anne. "Since we were teenagers. Our parents always had this idea in their heads that we would end up together. I suppose we just felt like we had to."

"Is that why you haven't left him?"

Anne nodded. "I feel like I'd be disappointing both our families. They want us to get married so badly. And…I thought we did love each other. But now, I don't know."

"It's not your families getting married, it's you," Aramis said gently. "You shouldn't do anything you don't want to."

"I know. But I don't know how I would move on. All my life, I've expected to marry Louis. Everything is _planned_ , we're about to choose a date. Maybe I'm just getting cold feet. Maybe things will get better once we're married."

Aramis bit his tongue. Anne truly sounded uncertain, but he didn't know if it was his place to say anything about her marriage. "Well, if it doesn't work out and you want to start to practice moving on…we could go and get a coffee. Or anything else you want, if you just want someone to talk to." Aramis smiled a soft smile at Anne.

She smiled back. "Thank you, Aramis."

"Anne? Are you here?"

Anne wandered out of the dining room. Her heels tapped loudly on the marble floor, echoing through the large and minimally furnished hallway. "So, our house catches on fire and instead of coming home you actually _stay in the city for an extra two days_."

"I thought you might need some time to calm down," said Louis matter-of-factly, and in slight bewilderment.

Anne folded her arms. "No, Louis, what I need is to talk to you."

Louis heard the dangerous note in her voice – so blaringly obvious this time – and his self-preservation instincts kicked in. "Okay, Anne, but before you say anything, I'm sorry. You know I love you."

"All I know is that our parents _want_ us to love each other. They told us we would love each other from the moment we were born. You might even really believe you love me but let's face it, Louis; you wouldn't be sneaking around with Milady if that were true. You would never have asked me to marry you if your grandmother hadn't given you her ring to do it, would you? If she hadn't planted the suggestion in your mind? You would never have wanted me to be your girlfriend in the first place if it weren't for our families."

"Anne, please," said Louis, knowing what was coming. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I don't know what I'd do if I kept being with you. This isn't good for us. We don't love each other." Anne took a deep breath. "Louis, I'm leaving you."

"Anne, don't!"

She slid the ring from her finger and placed it gently in his hand. "I will always care about you Louis. We've known each other for too long. I just can't marry you."

"This is it? We're finished?"

"What you said, Louis, about not knowing what you'd do without me – it's not true. You'll be better off, I know it. Happier once you're free to be with Milady or whoever else catches your eye after that. Good luck with everything."

And with her pre-packed bag of clothes, Anne walked out the door.

She walked nervously into the fire station. She felt very out of place with her upmarket clothes and her Peugeot. She stood out like a sore thumb, and it was quickly picked up on. A young man, slender and clean-shaven and with brown hair rather in need of a haircut, smiled hesitantly at her. She walked towards him.

"Morning, ma'am," the man said. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for Aramis," she said. "Is he here? My name's Anne." She was suddenly overcome with a fear that Aramis wouldn't remember her. With his looks and charm, he probably met new girls all the time – girls that were far prettier and, more importantly, available.

However, the young man grinned. "Anne, huh? From the lightning fire a few nights ago? Aramis told me all about you." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "I mean that literally. He hasn't shut up about you. Let me go find him. Wait right here."

Anne was left alone in an empty room, and she unconsciously folded her arms. Despite the other man's encouraging words, she wondered if it was a mistake to come here. She'd only left Louis all of two days ago. Was this too soon? And what would she say to Aramis? She had no idea. The last time she'd 'dated' someone other than Louis was when she was twelve. It hadn't lasted long, Louis had thrown a fit when he found out and scared the other boy away.

"Anne?"

She spun around, exhaling quickly. "Aramis. Hello. I hope I'm not disturbing you. Are you busy?"

He lifted his arms out to the side slightly and walked a little closer. "Not at all. No fires about right now, thankfully. I was about to end my shift in a few minutes, actually."

"Well, thank goodness I came when I did, otherwise I might've missed you."

A very short awkward silence fell, but Aramis was smooth. It was just part of his personality. "You know, there's an excellent café just around the corner from here. Would you like to –"

"Yes, I'd love to!" said Anne, wincing internally at how quickly she'd responded. Aramis's smile only grew wider.

"Give me two seconds to change out of this, then. I'll be right back. I'm fast with clothes." Aramis paused. "Uh, I mean, that's not – I'm not implying anything! I am just going to change into something more date-worthy."

Anne felt a sudden wave of recklessness. Perhaps Aramis just made her comfortable. "So this is a date, then?" she teased him.

Aramis gave a half shrug and a wink. "Yes, if my lady pleases."

True to his word, he was a very fast changer. Anne found herself walking side by side with him through the city in a matter of minutes. They engaged in easy chatter until they reached the café, where Aramis insisted on paying and Anne argued and they eventually went half and half.

When they sat down, Aramis finally asked the question that had been pressing on him ever since D'Artagnan had appeared at the top of the stairs and cried out that Aramis had a pretty woman named Anne looking for him. "What happened to your fiancé?"

Anne stared down into her coffee cup. "I thought about him. Us. A lot. I had the time – after I chewed him out, he didn't come home for two days. I think that was the last straw for me to make up my mind." She looked back up at Aramis. "I ended it."

"And you're happy?"

"It's been two days, Aramis," Anne laughed. "But I wouldn't have sought you out if I don't think I _can_ be happy now. I want to give this sort of thing, this dating thing, a shot. I've spent so much of my life on a relationship that was always doomed to fail. I think I'll be fine now. I want to move on."

"Are you busy this weekend?"

Anne laughed and raised her eyebrows. "Are you already asking me on a second date? We're only fifteen minutes into the first."

Aramis leaned back comfortably into his chair. "What can I say? I like you."

"I suppose you're not so bad yourself," joked Anne before sobering up. "I like you too. From the first time we spoke. Your kindness, what excellent company you are to be around, your great advice, even…I'm not used to it, to be honest. It was never like that before. Louis's not evil, but he would never have cared so much about a stranger as you did me that night, and he certainly wasn't much help when I was trying to fix any sort of problem. I want to thank you, actually, because you made me feel better in every way. So, thank you. I'm glad you were there and I met you."

"I think Louis was a fool to not see how incredible you are," Aramis said quietly. "I treated you how any woman should be treated, that's all. But it didn't take long for me to realise you're not just any woman. To be as patient and gracious and radiant as you are, Anne, in spite of everything, I think that's wonderful. I'm glad I was on call that night."

"How can I not say yes to a second date when you come up with lines like that?" Anne smiled so genuinely, and Aramis watched her face light up more than he'd seen since he met her and thought maybe he – or rather, both he and Anne – could have finally stumbled upon a chance for true, lasting happiness.

"So, uh, Friday night?"

"Perfect."


End file.
